Young Sunshine Girls - the standard bearers

By Jeremaine Brown

Jamaica's under 16 Netballers once again dominated the Jean Pierre Youth Netball Championship to win a 10th overall title in Antigua at the weekend.

The junior "Sunshine Girls" were ruthless in their display at the tournament winning all their six matches to finish on top with 31 points, five more than second placed Barbados, taking home five major awards including the championship trophy. 

Among their big wins was a 51-2 demolition of arch rivals Trinidad and Tobago and a 38-21 victory over Barbados in what should have been their toughest match.

In the end it was a very easy campaign for Jamaica, so easy that Netball Jamaica’s top brass said the tournament did not provide the type of competition needed for their development.

So the question is - does it make sense for Jamaica to contest the Caribbean under 16 Championship? I say yes!

Jamaica has never failed to win the title whenever they have contested the championship, but rather than view this as a total waste of time, I think the young Sunshine Girls should be seen as the standard bearers for the region and the team that all other Caribbean countries look to follow, learn from and eventually compete against.

CARIFTA 

The dominance of the junior Sunshine Girls  is not too dissimilar from Jamaica 's dominance at the CARIFTA track and field championships where the country has topped the medal table annually since 1985.

Rather than opt out of the CARIFTA Championships, Jamaica has continued to participate and has motivated and inspired other nations. There are talks of the other Caribbean nations catching up with Jamaica, based on the vastly improved level of competition.

The Jean Pierre Youth Tournament began in 1998 and thus needs time to grow. As for the suggestions, President of Netball Jamaica,  Marva Bernard has already announced that Jamaica would be willing to assist their Caribbean neighbours.

One area in which I would expect Netball Jamaica to assist in is that of coaching; another would be using Jamaica's high school competition as a template for the other nations to follow.

External competition

As for a short term plan to make the tournament more competitive, if even for Jamaica's sake,  youth teams from England, Australia and  New Zealand could be invited to contest the championship.

Let’s apply some patience even while we dominate.